Crazy from the Heat: A Chronicle of Twenty Years in the Big Bend

Stunning. Made a great gift.

Very interesting book even coming from the perspective of a frequent west texas visitor. Also makes for a great coffee table book

I am not a friend of James Evans; have never met him. Bought the book as a gift and was very disappointed. Although the photographs are beautiful and the book is of high quality material, there are no details given for photos as to dates, locations, significance, etc. I would have appreciated a little more information. But, that is just my opinion. Many of the photographs left you wondering "why was this significant", "who is this person". Some of the photographs are black and white and leave you wondering exactly what you are looking at. If you don't mind looking at photos and have no idea where or when they were taken or why they were important enough to make the book then you will enjoy this. I gave this book a 2 star rating due to little or no descriptions; the photography deserves 4 stars.

I was expecting more about the Big Bend rather than the people of the area. The title should have indicated to me the images were about people rather than the area. Nudes are probably the most difficult to photograph and his seem average except for the woman "in a family way". If you enjoy the life styles of people in a wonderful out of the way area this is a good book.

Within this book, we have several photos (there are no page numbers, so I can't tell you how many exactly) of Big Bend, Texas and the surrounding communities. Most of the photos are in color, though there are a few black and white shots as well. The book is primarily of scenery---even to include the night sky---but there are also photos of people who live near there.If you have seen Big Bend National Park---or books or websites on the place---you'll find a different perspective here. I've been to Big Bend, but if you blindly showed me this book, I would have a hard time placing the content. Part of this reflects artistic liberty by Evans, and part of it reflects his unique perspective.Early on in the book, there is a four-page fold-out of a panoramic shot of the landscape. This is one of the few 'common' photos you will see of Big Bend in this book. Instead, you have close-up shots of rocks; a highway at night; a dead dog; train tracks; and a few nude shots .... all in all, not what you would expect when buying a book on a place known for its scenery. There are also photos of wildlife (snakes, scorpion, centipede, tarantula ... ), typically set against a total white background, as we'll as contestants in the Chihuahua races.Overall, this book will appeal more to those who appreciate the art of photography than those looking to gain a perspective on the park. As others here have griped about, this is a photo (!!!) book. There are five pages of text, and though most of the photos have a title, there are no other descriptors. It's well done for what is is, thus, my 4 stars.

Photographer James Evans is exceptional in many ways. He sees with his heart. James fell in love with Big Bend in the late `80s and gave up his life as a photographer in Austin, moved to West Texas, and put down roots in Marathon.James has been documenting Big Bend ever since, and his photographs are presented in his beautiful new book, Crazy from the Heat. What separates this book from others is James's commitment to Big Bend. James takes us on his personal journey--sharing his vision of this other-worldly panorama.James connected to everything...the dirt, the wind, the rocks, the people, the critters, the vast loneliness, the epic landscape. Turning each page is a delight--you don't know whether you will see a hailstorm, a fried pie, a snake, a starry night or a gorgeous landscape. What you do see is James's passion shining through each image in a way that is as original as James himself.

When Evans moved to the desolate little town of Marathon, the closest real town to the sprawling Big Bend National Park, he applied for a job as a cook at the Gage Hotel. James had previously been working as an assistant for an advertising photographer in Austin, a seven hour drive to the east, and had boldly (or foolishly) moved to the tiny town of 400 people to open a photography gallery. The first problem was that his gallery was in the middle of nowhere, in the heart of the Great Chihuahuan Desert, so to survive James applied to be a cook at the only hotel in town. The second problem was that he didn't know how to cook. He got the job anyway.Thus began the adventures of Evans, who has become the foremost interpreter of Texas's iconic Big Bend region, which has been his life's passion and photographic subject for over twenty years. Approaching the rugged land and its people as an artist, documentarian and historian, Evans has produced a body of work that rejects clichés in favor of honest, deeply observed photographs that show a profound understanding of light, the people of the desert, and the desert itself.Crazy from the Heat, with a foreword by Rebecca Solnit, presents Evans's most fully realized portrait of the Big Bend. Going well beyond his highly regarded black-and-white work in Big Bend Pictures, this new book displays magnificent landscapes in full color, including panoramas that reveal the immensity of the desert. It contains dramatic time-lapse night photography and sensuous nudes that exhibit the striking similarities between the contours of the human form and the land. Several portraits of Big Bend residents that reflect Evans's long acquaintance with and affection for people who are at home in this remote place complete the new volume.Pentagram Austin Partner DJ Stout met photographer James H. Evans in 1988, about the time that Stout began working as the art director of Texas Monthly magazine. Evans, who had just moved to the Big Bend, became Stout's go-to photographer in that remote West Texas region and shot many assignments for him over his 13 year career at the renowned regional publication. In 2003 Stout and Associate Partner Julie Savasky designed Evans's first monograph, Big Bend Pictures, and now they have designed his newest book, Crazy from the Heat. The new volume, with its quirky title penned by Stout, is published by the University of Texas Press and began hitting bookstores this month."What was challenging from a design perspective about this book compared to the first one was the wide variety of imagery," says Stout. "The pictures in Big Bend Pictures were all shot in the same format with the same toning. This book is definitely more frenetic. Kind of like the artist himself."